Vincent Lee Wimbush is an American

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

scholar, known for his work in

African American biblical hermeneutics African American biblical hermeneutics or African American biblical interpretation is the study of the interpretation of the Christian Bible, informed by African American history and experiences. History Vincent L. Wimbush traces the history of ...

Biography

Wimbush received a BA in philosophy from

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...

(1975), an M.Div. (1978) from

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

, and an AM (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in the study of religions, with a focus on the New Testament. He taught at a number of institutions, including Union Theological Seminary (1991–2003) and

Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate (Pomona College, Claremont McKenna Co ...

(2003–2014). He is the founding director of the Institute for Signifying Scriptures. In 2010, Wimbush was the president of the

Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...

African American biblical hermeneutics

Wimbush is a pioneer in the field of

. He has argued for a need to challenge a Eurocentric understanding of biblical studies. Instead, scholars are to refocus the discipline within the context of North America, with a particular emphasis on the African-American experience. This would result in a hermeneutic that is much more informed by "marginality, liminality, exile, pain, trauma."

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wimbush, Vincent L. 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 20th-century biblical scholars 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 21st-century biblical scholars African-American biblical scholars American biblical scholars Harvard University alumni Living people New Testament scholars Yale Divinity School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Presidents of the Society of Biblical Literature